FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

When is Volume 3 going to be available?

Judging by Brad’s current speaking and teaching schedule, Volume 3, Roof Catchments and Cistern Systems, will be available no sooner than Spring 2011. If you would like to receive notification once Volume 3 is available, please scroll down to the box on the left side of each page of this website to sign up for Brad’s email list.

Besides the website, where can I buy Brad’s books?

If you are in Tucson, call ahead to Native Seeds/SEARCH on Fourth Avenue, Desert Survivors on Starr Pass, Silverbell Trading on N Oracle Road, or The Nature Conservancy’s gift shop on Fort Lowell to make sure they have copies of Brad’s books in stock. Otherwise, check with your local independent bookseller in order to support your community – if they don’t carry Brad’s books, any bookstore can special-order them through Brad’s distributor, Chelsea Green. If you are in Australia or New Zealand, check your local bookstore or ask them to order Brad’s books from Tower Books, Brad’s down-under distributor.

Are Brad’s books available in any other languages than English, or other regions of the world besides North America and Australia/New Zealand?

Currently, no to both questions, although you can have his books shipped anywhere in the world by purchasing through the website. However, we are working on making Brad’s books available in Spanish, and would consider working with a foreign publisher or distributor who is interested in purchasing foreign rights for their country or region. Please contact us if this is up your alley and you have or know of resources to help make these projects happen!

Can I use one or more of your videos on my website or for my project?

Most of the videos on this site are not Brad’s property, and therefore he alone cannot grant you permission for their use. However, if you contact the producer(s) of the video(s) you are interested in and they grant you permission, then Brad is fine with your use of these videos, provided you give proper credit to the producer and to HarvestingRainwater.com.

Can I use your images or reference your work in my project/presentation?

Thank you for asking first! Brad is always happy to have you cite his work in your paper or presentation, or include a link on your website to credit his work. If you’re interested in using 10 or fewer of Brad’s images, then you have his permission as long as you mark each image with “Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond © HarvestingRainwater.com,” although you can change the order of the title, website, and the copyright symbol if you like it better another way. There is no need to specify which volume the images are taken from. If you are interested in using a photo/image that credits someone other than Brad, please email us to find out if we are able to grant such permission, and if so, with what stipulations. Also contact us if you are interested in publishing a photo/image in a book.

Can my business be listed on your website?

Brad considers this on a case-by-case basis. Please indicate which page of Brad’s site you think would be the best fit for your product or service. On rare occasions, Brad will create a new resource page if you provide something Brad would like to support but for which he has not yet begun a list. The standard fee to list your business name, 1-2 sentence description, and web address or phone number is $100 for 5 years. We reserve the right to edit your description for content or tone.  Stay tuned for a web-based form to submit for web listings — meanwhile, send us an email.

Can we exchange web links?

Brad considers this on a case-by-case basis. Please email us and indicate which page of Brad’s site you think would be the best fit for your product or service, and of course include a link to your site for review.

Does Brad do interviews for radio, TV, newspaper & magazine articles, books-in-progress, films, et cetera?

Yes! Please send us an email with an outline of what you are hoping for, both scope- and content-wise, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

What local resources exist in Tucson to educate the public about water harvesting?

The good news is that there are a lot of resources out there! Many are referenced elsewhere on this website, but a good summary, courtesy of Tucson Water, can be downloaded by clicking here.

Can you advise me how to get started in the water-harvesting business?

Here’s what Brad recommends, but keep in mind that many of these resources are location-specific, although they might serve as models of what to look for in your region:

- Watershed Management Group: apply for one of their courses, some of which Brad has taught in the past and may well teach in the future.

- American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA): Take their accreditation course.

- Watch for Carbon Farming Classes that might be coming your region — recent ones have taken place in Tennessee and California.

- Check oasisdesign.net for greywater workshops.

- Josh Robinson from Eden on Earth Landscaping in Sedona, Arizona, sometimes travels to teach and speak — Brad recommends Josh as a great resource.

- Start in on projects at your own home to gain hands-on experience. Brad doesn’t think you should need a contractor’s license to do small jobs for other people, but look into your local regulations on this just to be sure.

- Starting small and getting momentum going might well be your best strategy.

Does Brad offer consultation services?

Yes, Brad offers local-to-Tucson consultation services. On rare occasions, he might be available for on-site consultation while traveling; please check the events page of the website to see where he currently has plans to be when. His consultation rate is $100/hour; a typical consult takes about 2 hours. If you are interested in pursuing this, Brad recommends (but does not require) that in order to get the most out of the consultation you educate yourself in advance by doing as many of the following as possible:

For a rainwater-harvesting, greywater-harvesting, permaculture, or integrated sustainable design consultation:

a) Read Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1

For a greywater consultation:

a) Check out the Greywater-Harvesting Image Gallery on this website  — click on each image to make it larger and to view the caption;

b) Take a look at Volume 2 of his Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond (available through the local library if you don’t own it) — Chapter 12 is specifically on greywater;

c) Take a look at Art Ludwig’s book Create an Oasis with Greywater — the definitive book of its kind; and finally,

d) Think about which possible sources of greywater you would want to tap, and what living things you would want your greywater to feed.

I live out-of-state; can you give me advice on my project/problem?

If Brad is going to be in your area within a time frame that would work for your situation and you’d like to inquire about hiring Brad to consult (see above), send us an email. However, without doing an on-site consult and asking a lot more questions (which he is too busy to be able to do), Brad is not able to provide much in the way of assistance. We suggest doing a web search for a local permaculturist, naturally-inclined landscaper, common-sense plumber, or other professional in your area who specializes in water issues, and who could be hired to come out to your site to consult and advise. See Companies Implementing Water-Harvesting Systems/Components for leads.

Can you recommend materials or equipment?

Brad has expended quite a bit of time, energy, and thought on creating the various resource pages of this website. Please navigate around (or use the search box on the left side of each web page) to see what information has already been compiled on this site for your convenience and benefit. After you have done your homework and searched the website, if you are still not finding the information you need, then feel free to email in your question. Note: there is a “tip jar” located on the left side of each page [coming soon] which you can use to say thanks to Brad for lending his expertise to your project, and to help support his ability to keep pace with recent developments and applications of water harvesting. Thank you!

Are you accepting applications for interns?

Brad does not yet have an active internship program, but if you would like him to consider you, please email us with what specific permaculture topics you are most interested in, what you think you would want to do with the skills and experiences you would to come away with, what your time frame and is, how many hours per week you could work, what your tolerance level is for the less-glamorous end of the spectrum of possible assignments, and whether you would be willing to work on an unpaid basis — that sort of information would be helpful.

I am coming to (or live in) Tucson; can I come visit your site?

Since Brad travels a lot and manages to stay very busy when he is in town, we recommend you begin by checking out this great local resource map of water-harvesting demonstrations sites and more, put together by Mead Mier at PAG (Pima Associations of Governments). If you are super-motivated to set up a visit with Brad, he can sometimes accommodate such requests, especially if your timing is right and you’re able and willing either to volunteer your time and energy toward one of his current projects, or if you’re willing to pay $100 ($50 for schools and educational programs) per hour of tour and/or Q & A time — you may bring a total of up to 20 people for this fee to lower the per-person cost and increase the spread of information. If either option sounds interesting, first please check the events page for a preliminary sense of Brad’s availability and then send us an email with a few dates and times that seem promising. Please note: non-school-based paid tours must be prepaid by PayPal or check to reserve a spot in Brad’s calendar.

How can I start a similar movement in my neighborhood or community?

As simple as it might sound, all Brad did to sow the seeds of excitement and action among his neighbors in the Dunbar-Spring neighborhood of Tucson was to start small in his own yard and the right-of-way (between the curb and the sidewalk) in front of his property. Once his neighbors saw what he was doing and how his property was gradually transforming for the better, their interest was sparked. And this process is ongoing. If things don’t work – fix them. Do not promote problems or mistakes. Instead, learn from your mistakes by striving for and finding solutions you can share/promote. Monitor and document ‘before’ and ‘after’ conditions with photos, data, and more. After you have successful on-the-ground work in motion, you can share images of the transformation, and even data on water saved, productivity of vegetation, temperature differences, wildlife counts, soil and water quality, etc. This way you will gradually become one of your community’s authentic “inperts” (a local expert), as Brad did. But it’s important to have the actual experience to back up your words. And you don’t have to go at it alone: work with other interested folk for more fun, teamwork, and creativity.

There are plans for a big project in my area, and I’m not so sure it is the best way to address the situation we are facing. Do you have any advice on how to promote productive, resilient, integrated, and regenerative alternatives to comparatively unsustainable municipal/corporate/centralized/conventional single-use water-treatment/water-source/flood-control projects?

Start by learning about the proposed project’s reasons/goals for existing, and its pros and cons. Research alternatives/changes that could also meet/exceed the beneficial goals. The idea is to present positive, delicious, workable, integrated solutions that do more for less. The more compelling images, data, and working case studies/templates you have, the better, so others can easily see what you are trying to convey.

You may find useful examples and frameworks in the resources below:

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1;

The foreword to Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 2;

Our Water-Harvesting Images page;

Blue Covenant, a book by Maude Barlow — includes activism information;

Flow, a movie that also includes stories of activism projects;

Seattle’s SEA Streets project — they’ve had great success with reduction in stormwater runoff and increase in water quality.